Engineer Works to Develop Better Batteries for Energy Alternatives

Credit: Photo by Patrick Herteen/Engineering Communications/Iowa State University

Steve Martin of Iowa State University and the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory loads ion-conducting glass, a solid electrolyte used in batteries, into an impedance spectrometer that measures ion conductivity. High conductivity is required for the electrolytes in batteries.

AMES, Iowa – Get Steve Martin going on the science and technology of batteries and he’ll reach for a sheet of graph paper.

Martin, an Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in Engineering in Iowa State University’s department of materials science and engineering and an associate of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory, will fill that sheet with the chemical formulas of various lithium compounds and materials. He’ll add a few sketches of carbon atoms forming layers of hexagons. He’ll even jot down some lithium-silicon formulas.

It’s his way of explaining the electrochemical reactions that make batteries work and how new materials could be used to make better, safer batteries. And that’s something that could make a big difference for all of us as the world pursues alternatives to fossil fuels.

Just consider the 2,140 wind turbines spinning across Iowa. They’re generating 3,053 megawatts of electricity, making Iowa the second-ranked state in wind power output. Their energy production, of course, varies with the wind. And as long as production of wind energy is relatively small, the existing electricity grid can accommodate the ups and the downs. But, if wind energy climbs above 25 percent of electricity production, Martin said the grid won’t be able to handle the power swings.

“We need to store that extra energy when it’s generated and we’re not using it, like at night,” Martin said. “And so we’re working on electrochemical energy storage mechanisms.”

Martin has several battery projects in the works:

● As part of a Materials World Network, Martin is working to develop better and safer lithium batteries. Network researchers are looking at replacing the liquid electrolyte that separates a battery’s electron-producing anode from its electron-accepting cathode. The liquid electrolyte sometimes fails and catches fire. It also reduces battery power at cold temperatures.

Martin and his collaborators are looking at a solid electrolyte made of glass. Martin’s role in the project is to prepare various glasses and study their structures and conductivity.

The network’s project is supported by a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

● Martin is also collaborating with Iver Anderson, a senior metallurgist for the Ames Laboratory and an adjunct professor of materials science and engineering, and Emma White, a graduate student in materials science and engineering, to develop new materials for a battery’s electron-producing anode.

Rather than using lithium and carbon, they’re studying how lithium-silicon compounds could be used. A lithium-silicon battery could hold a lot more charge, but so far the silicon anode material expands to sizes that are impractical.

“I get excited about this,” Martin said. “The problem isn’t the chemistry. It’s can we create new structures or types of lithium-silicon phases so when the lithium comes in, the volume of the anode doesn’t change?”

The project is supported by a seed grant of $50,000 from the Ames Laboratory.

Martin’s interest in the world’s energy problems goes back to the 1979 oil crisis. He was just graduating from college at the time and took note of the long lines at gas stations and the calls for energy efficiency and conservation. That got him thinking about alternatives to imported oil. And that led him to study the electrochemistry of glass and begin his own research program at Iowa State in 1986.

He’s been working with researchers around the world ever since. And Martin is confident that engineers and scientists doing fundamental research to characterize and understand materials will find ways to make better batteries for a cleaner energy future.

“We will solve these problems – we have to,” he said. “Probably in my lifetime, we’ll have major discoveries that will start to steer us away from burning fossil fuels.”

Filters

New research from the Monell Center finds that oral perceptions of coldness and carbonation help to reduce thirst. The findings could guide sensory approaches to increase fluid intake in populations at risk for dehydration, including the elderly, soldiers, and athletes.

MANHATTAN -- A nearly $8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy is supporting the "bread and butter" physics research at Kansas State University's James R. Macdonald Laboratory. The grant is a three-year renewal award, "Structure and Dynamics of Atoms, Ions, Molecules and Surfaces." "This big operational grant is our bread-and-butter," said Itzik Ben-Itzhak, university distinguished professor of physics and director of the J.

A number of Sac State artworks are joining Jeff Koons' "Coloring Book" in exhibits at the new Golden 1 Center. (Sacramento State/Rob Neep) More photosSac State Professor Rachel Clarke and alumnus Bryan Valenzuela check out the installation of Valenzuela's "Multitudes Converge" glass sculpture at the Golden 1 Center.

A straightforward new way to calculate, compile, and graphically present solar radiation measurements in a format that is accessible to decision makers and the general public has been developed by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and is described in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy.

High energy costs are one drawback of making clean water from waste effluents. According to an article in the journal Biomicrofluidics, a new system that combines two different technologies proposes to break down contaminants using the cheapest possible energy source, sunlight.

The South could pay less for its electricity in 20 years than is currently projected if strong public policies are enacted to spur renewable energy production and use, according to a report released today by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Duke University.

Filters

Citi Community Development, part of the Citi family of businesses, supports an innovative Academic Success Program at South Dakota State University. The program is designed to help students who have been re-admitted to SDSU following suspension due to low academic achievement.

Cornell University researchers have joined other scientists and a biofuel research company on a mission to develop a commercial-scale algae-to-fuel facility by 2015. The effort is backed by a $9 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy.

A $3.9 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy will allow electrical engineering researchers at the University of Arkansas to continue contributing to the development of a compact and highly efficient silicon-carbide charger for hybrid electric vehicles. The benefits of the project extend beyond vehicles into other areas, such as wind and solar power, and could lead to reduced energy consumption in the United States.

South Dakota State University has a major role in a $10 million project to deliver alternative power technologies to help the U.S. military supply power to units in the field. The three-year project began in May 2009.

Need has caught up with Case Western Reserve University researcher Gerhard Welsch's design for a self-healing, high-energy capacitor he patented a decade ago. ARPA-E has granted Welsch $2.25 million to start producing the small and lightweight device for hybrid and electric cars and more.

Registration is open for the 4th International Conference on the Integration of Renewable and Distributed Energy Resources, the premier event for technical discussion of electric integration of new energy resources.